John davis



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN DAVIS, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR DETACHING HORSES FROM CARRIAGES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,566, dated November 6, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN Davis, of Elmira, in the county of Chemung, inthe State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inApparatus for Detaching Horses from Carriages; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, the same making a part of this specification.

In the said i drawings the same letters of reference denote like partsin each figure.

The nature of my invention consists in providing` an apparatus foreasily and instantly detaching a horse from a vehicle. It is so arrangedthat the person in the vehicle, by touching a spring, can at onceunloose the horse from all connection with said vehicle. It is a o'reatconvenience at all times, but especially so if a horse attempts to runaway, where it obviates all danger, for the horse can be at once letloose to run his race while the wagon will stop still.

In the annexed. drawings A, A, represent the thills of a vehicle, whichare connected as usual near their rear ends by means of the cross-pieceB.

C, represents the Whittle-tree which is at tached to the cross piece B,by means of a bolt or pin in the ordinary manner.

a, a, represent metallic pins, which enter the whiffle-tree at its ends.These pins are provided with arms e, c, which extend through openings inthe side of the whithetree.

D, represents a spring which is almost as long, and which lies at theback, or rear quarter, of the whitlie-tree. The ends of this springconnect with the arms c, c.

d, represents a strap attached to the ccnter of the spring I), whichserves to bend the said spring at its center, and thus move it from theWhittie-tree at that point, cans ing the ends to approach nearer to eachother. This movement of the spring, it will be seen, by drawing upon thearms e, c, causes the pins a, a, to enter the ends of the Whittle-tree.The traces being secured back by means of these pins, itwill be readilyseen, that when they are drawn in, said tugs will be freed, and thehorse will be allowed to pass out from the vehicle, if not attached toit, at any other point. By

loosening the strap oZ, the spring will return to its normal position,again throwing out the pins a, a, to receive the traces when desired.

The breeching straps are not bound around the thills in the usualmanner, but are Vprovided with rings which catch upon the hooks, H, H,which are attached to the thills as seen.

I, I, represent springs which are also attached to the thills, and soarranged that they will touch the hooks near their outer ends. Theobject ot' these springs is to keep the breeching ring upon the hooks,thus preventing its escape except when necessary.

It will be readily seen that when the traces are freed, and the horsestarts to pass out of the thills, the breeching rings will bear down thesprings I, I, and thus draw oli, and free themselves from the hooks.

IVhen the tugs, and the breeching straps are loosened the loops whichattach to the saddle, and which sustain the forward portion of thethills, slide from the tliills, and the horse is free to pass out.

m, m, represent straps which connect the tugs to the breeching strapsnear the ring, which catches into the hook H. Tithout a connection ofthis kind the thills are liable to be released from the saddle loopsbefore the rings come out of the hooks; in that case the thills willfall and hang by the rings in the breeching-straps, and a sudden startof the horse would cause the thills to iiy up against him and thusproduce great damage.

By placing the thumb against either of the arms c, e, the pins may bemoved back separately, for the purpose of attaching the traces one at atime, when it is desired to secure the horse to the vehicle.

I am aware that pins are used which move in and out of the Whittle-tree,in fastening the traces. Hence I disclaim them; but

That I do claim is:

The arrangement of the whitlie-tree as constructed, with the thillsprovided with the hooks H, H, and springs I, I, substantially as, andfor the purpose specified.

i JOHN DAVIS.

Titnesses NELSON WELLS, WM. BROWN.

